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Extreme Joshua Tree National Park

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           A three-and-a-half-hour drive from Los Angeles took us to Joshua Tree National Park. Most national parks in the US do not have a permanent settlement of wild animals. Instead, it is the formation of rocks, the walking and hiking trails and the varied Human life in the park began sometimes after the last ice age with the arrival of the Pinto people – the hunter-gathers who were part of the Southwest’s earliest cultures. They lived in Pinto Basin , which though inhospitality arid today, had a wet climate some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago.    Nomadic groups of Red Indians seasonally inhabited the region when harvests of nuts, beans, acorns and cactus fruit guaranteed sustenance. Several 19th century gold mining ventures left it in ruins. However, some of these mines are accessible by hiking trails, or unmaintained roads that can be accessed by four-wheel SUVs.                                                               The ‘skull rock’ is a big attract
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Awesome Chilika Lake

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       S o before the sun starts to ascend and we hit peak summer, here’s your chance to make the most of an extended weekend round the corner. If you are in love with waters and want to begin with splash, head to Chilika Lake in Odisha, an up and coming tourist destination.    Chilika is Asia ’s largest brackish or salty water lagoon, and lies at heart of coastal Odisha, interspersed with sand flats and islands to hop on and off    Located around 500 km from Kolkata, Chilika is easily accessible by road. A long ride on the cards in the holiday mood is ideal to set the tempo going this year. If you are the adventurous sort and love to drive, the lake professes to be the ideal of destination to reach by road. If you are looking at a short family holiday, make the journey as fun as the destination itself. Indeed, the joy of driving with the family is much fun, replete with camaraderie and bonhomie. A Haven For Biodiversity Chilika is a hotspot for biodiversity to thr
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Blooming Nilgiri Hills

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A lmost every time you visit the Nilgiri Hills, you’d be left wondering where it got its name from. In any direction you care to look would be verdure as far as the eyes can see, with the occasional path of the brown hillside, mostly where it’s too steep for anything to grow. While all this would be wonderfully soothing to the eyes, there would be nothing very blue about them, unless, of course, you count in the sky above.     But 2018 has been different. Once every 12 years, the hills and valleys get covered by Neelakurinji blooms- s bright blue bell-shaped flower- and this was one such year. Standing on the top of a hill covered with Neelakurinji with other other hilltops at eye level and valleys way below is the reward one gets at the end of a trek in the upper Palani Hills.     Even in the year they bloom, you need a dollop of luck to get to see them. A 4x4 from Kodaikanal, where we were staying, got us to the starting point of the trek. And it was a long trudge in b
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